It would’ve been hard to script a more straightforward storyline for tonight’s contest. Jordan Montgomery, just five days removed from his surprising trade to St. Louis, would not only take the mound against his former team, but against Domingo Germán, the man ostensibly tasked with holding Montgomery’s former rotation spot in the Bronx. Immediately, the Yankees’ decision to trust Germán, and their pitching depth more broadly, would be tested.
Montgomery himself offered an interesting matchup for the Yankees. Relying on guile, command, and deception rather than overpowering stuff to turn over lineups, Montgomery would seem to have his hands full with a Yankee lineup that has long taken pleasure in grinding opponents and spitting on pitches off the black.